Parliament has decided not to act on the Honorable Member’s tweet Ano Turtiainen last Saturday, when he appeared to be sending a thinly disguised threat to MEPs in favor of a mask mandate.
Turtiainen has founded his own one-man parliamentary party since he was separated from the Finnish Party’s parliamentary group last year.
A large number of parliamentarians from different parties gathered on Friday to discuss the issue, including parliamentary chairmen, committee chairs and chairmen of parliamentary groups from both parties, who decided that Turkey should not be reprimanded for tweeting.
"That was our unanimous view," President of Parliament Anu Vehviläinen (Cen) said after the meeting.
While MEPs must speak with respect in Parliament’s speeches, Parliament cannot interfere with other forms of communication, such as blog posts or Twitter posts.
"Parliament shall not interfere with statements made by a Member elsewhere," Vehviläinen stated and added that this does not, however, remove personal responsibility for communication.
"Speaking and writing are the main tools for a Member," he said.
Turtiainen’s response calmed the situation
Vehviläinen also said that the parliamentary groups also discussed restrictions on freedom of expression in the communications environment in the 2020s.
"The unanimous message of the meeting was that we do not accept any kind of aggressive rhetoric or intimidation, or even overt or covert intimidation," Vehviläinen said.
Some politicians had interpreted Turtiainen’s tweet as pressure on MPs in favor of ordering the mandatory use of face masks.
Speakers in the parliamentary group discussed Turtiainen’s tweet on Tuesday and said they took the matter very seriously. Following the meeting, Mr Turtiainen submitted a written reply to a parliamentary request stating that there was no threat or danger to Members of Parliament.
Vehviläinen added that he thanked Turtia for the answer.
"I am pleased that the Turtiainen pointed out in its defense that other representatives are not threatened in any way. I met him a moment ago in the hallway and informed him," Vehviläinen said.
Source: The Nordic Page